Turntablism

Technics assembled an orchestra of DJs to perform a historic routine in celebration of Japan’s LP Record Day on Monday. The Philharmonic Turntable Orchestra, which was made up of 30 DJs, is the first to perform using only turntables, mixers, and original vinyl.

The ensemble included world-class turntablists like DJ QBert, DJ Swamp, DJ Kentaro, Mr. Switch, DJ IZOH, and 13-year-old DJ RENA. All of the 30 DJs were equipped with a Technics SL-1200 and mixer.

Dan Wayo, a two-time Red Bull 3Style France finalist, pays tribute to dancehall star Beenie Man in a new routine for DJcityTV. Formerly known as DJDAN “974,” the Réunion Island native scratches and juggles his way through five of the Jamaican singer’s tracks.

13-year-old DJ RENA was crowned the champion of the inaugural Kame World Classic DJ competition on Saturday. The battle’s Triple Threat Final took place at the Mercury Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand.

RENA’s win comes just five months after he became the youngest DJ to win the DMC World Championship at 12 years old in October.

The Japanese turntablist squared off against his countryman DJ Fummy and Denmark’s Graded in what was a thrilling three-round final. Each DJ threw down three impressive routines, but in the end, judges Total Eclipse, Vekked, and DJ Brace felt RENA did enough to win. Fummy and Graded took home second and third place respectively.

Also competing in the battle was 14-year-old New Zealand native and current IDA World DJ Champion, DJ K-Swizz. He took fourth place while Brazil’s Erick Jay (5th) and Nedu Lopes (6th) rounded out the top six.

The Kame World Classic is a worldwide DJ competition based out of New Zealand. The event began with six online regional battles held in Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, North America, and South America. The top two DJs from each region were invited to compete in the world final.

Sponsors for the battle included DJcity, Serato, Numark, Akai, and Soundswitch.

While in Poland for the Red Bull 3Style VIII World Finals, DJcityTV recruited some of the country’s best turntablists to showcase the new Phase technology on its Cutting Room series.

Premiered at NAMM in January, Phase is a wireless device that bypasses a turntable’s internal audio and eliminates the need for a cartridge. It is considered by many industry experts and DJs to be a potential game-changer in the industry.

The scratch session featured DJs VaZee, Eprom, Krootki, Falcon1, and Keeper ET, and used Fracture’s jungle single, “Loving Touch.” It was the follow up to DJcityTV’s first Polish Cutting Room session, which went down in 2014.

Entries have opened for the inaugural AhhYeah Amplify DJ Championship for Northeastern U.S. DJs. The winner will receive prizes valued at more than $3,000.

Formerly called the Weekday Warriors DJ Battle, Peavey has relaunched the competition to reach a larger audience. It will be put on by DJ collective AhhYeah and co-sponsored by DJcity.

There will be three rounds: an online qualifier, three regional battles, and a final. The competitors will be judged on technical ability, song selection, crowd reaction, and originality. In a unique twist, crowd reaction will be determined by the number of social media “likes” a DJs’ video gets in the qualifier round.

27 finalists from the qualifier round will be selected on March 26 (nine from the New York City region, nine from the New Jersey region, and nine from the Philadelphia region).

The regional battles will take place from April to July. The NYC competition, which will take place on April 22, will be judged by DJcity’s East Coast Director Latin Prince as well as DJs Mell Starr, Esquire, Cypress Hill’s Eddie B. Swift, and GetLive!

The final is set to take place in New Jersey in September.

To enter the qualifier round, DJs must submit a two to five-minute video on Ahhyeah’s website by March 18. A full list of rules and details can be found there.

In February, we traveled to Kraków, Poland to take in the full Red Bull 3Style World Finals VIII experience. In addition to five nights of battles, the week-long event included workshops, tours of the city and surrounding area, and pre- and after-parties. Red Bull gave us exclusive behind-the-scenes access to everything that went down. Watch above.

Pioneer DJ has announced a new version of its entry-level Serato controller, the DDJ-SB.

The first new hardware to be released with Serato’s new DJ Lite software, the DDJ-SB3 includes elements from the company’s higher-end controllers, such as performance pads, independent auto loop buttons, and control over four decks.

The unit also includes a unique new Pad Scratch feature, co-developed with DJ Jazzy Jeff, which enables users to trigger eight preset scratches by pressing the performance pads.

The DDJ-SB3 will be available in stores soon, priced at $249. Find out more at Pioneer DJ’s website, and check out the introduction video to hear Jazzy Jeff talk about the new features.

Continuing his Culture Cuts series, Brace recently traveled to Panama. There, he met with members of the Garifuna tribe from Belize, sampled them playing guitars and percussion, and composed a beat with the sounds. The next day, he led a performance with them in the jungle at the Tribal Gathering festival.